About

My name is Bruce Whitehouse, and I’m author of “Bridges from Bamako.” I am a cultural anthropologist based at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I have spent about five years in Mali, initially as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Sikasso region (1997 – 2000), and most recently as a Fulbright Scholar in Bamako (August 2011 – June 2012). I consider Bamako a “budding metropolis” because, while it’s nowhere near as large as cities like Lagos, Kinshasa or Johannesburg, it is believed to have about two million inhabitants and to be Africa’s fastest-growing city. I created this blog in 2011 to describe some of the changes that have been taking place in Bamako, and some of the delights and challenges of living in this city. Since Mali’s political crisis began in early 2012 I’ve been writing about national-level issues as well. To learn more about my research and work as a professor of anthropology at Lehigh University, see my professional website.

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29 Responses to About

Wow! I’ve been following your blog since yesterday after a Mali RPCV friend sent me the link, but only just now noticed that it was you! I’m sure you must be the same Bruce Whitehouse from Vermont that met up with my parents before you shipped out to Mali that first time! Stay safe, Bruce. For all of us who have Mali deep in our hearts, this is agonizing to watch, as it must be for you. Your reports are greatly appreciated. “Amba yigiri” – May god fix this (dogon benediction)

Bruce- I am REALLY appreciating your on-the-ground updates about the coup and am also enjoying going through your past posts and photos. I’m an RPCV from Bamako (Korafina Nord) ’02-’04 and this is some of the best and most reliable info I’ve found online.

Hi Bruce,
I just stumbled across your blog through friend’s posts on Facebook and remembered that we’d corresponded briefly last year about Peace Corps Sikasso and grad schools. I’ll finish my master’s in Public Administration at Syracuse University this summer, at which point I was supposed to head back to Mali to do some research for a professor. My fingers are crossed that the situation stabilizes so my trip can happen.
Thanks so much for your detailed reporting about the coup. I’ve been sitting here pouring over your blog since I found it a few hours ago and will continue to follow in the coming days.
Stay safe (and cool) in Mali.

Bruce – I really appreciate your updates and insights as there is little quality reporting. I graduated from Lehigh in 1985 and got an MBA there in 1990. Last June I took my son to Mali to build a school in a village named Bafaga with an NGO called buildOn (over 170 schools built in Mali to date). I must admit Bamako was a bit overwhelming after time in a small village. thanks

I Sylla! I know Loulouni – I was perhaps 30 km from there, in a village called Lofine which is NW of Kadiolo. I had a PCV friend in Loulouni whom I visited occasionally. Thanks for writing, Allah ka Mali haminakow nogoya.

Hi Bruce, Just got a link to your site from another RPCV (surprise, right!). Thanks for posting all this, and so glad to hear that you’re also into anthropology. After Peace Corps (I was in Bankass), I ended up in India, but hope to make my way back to northern Mali. Sad that all this has broken out! Thanks for keeping all of us informed from a cultural perspective and not just “press” coverage. Your compassion for the nation and its people bleeds through. I ni ce. I ni bara.

Hello Bruce, Thanks for your reporting. The broader regional implications are pretty edgy. Stay safe. I travelled for a year throughout Africa in ’87 and found the Tuareg some of the most intriguing groups we met. Noble, proud and marginalised, they saved our lives and others, routinely as we stumbled through their homeland. It would be interesting to hear your take on how they are playing into the social problems further south in the Sahel.

ciao Bruce … thanks for all the info … please I have some questions for you about photographers in Mali and about CMD. I am not a journalist … just an ordinary african citizen 🙂 How can I possibly contact you privately? Email? Phone?

Bruce,
I would like to thank you for this blog. I have worked in Mali for three years (University of Bamako, FLASH) and since the beginning of the crisis I’m desperately trying to get as much (and diverse) information as possible. Your blog is an important contribution.
Take care,
Conny (Bamako 2008-11)

Bruce,
It is very interesting to read your “reports” from Bamakonad surroundings, my wife and I were in Bamako and Segu last year after invitation from our daughter and really enjoyed it, but very sad that things are going the way they do. We got the web adress from our daughter so we could get
“latest news” have enjoyed it very much
You take care and we look forward to see latest news, which we hope will soon bring some positive
things for the country.
Ove Olesen

Bruce
I’ve just arrived back in Bamako for my third assignment in Mali with USAID Farmer-to-Farmer program. Thanks for the posts from the inside. It was very helpful in planning for my trip to have your information about what you’ve been observing and your analysis of the political situation. From what I’ve heard from my friends here already it was a scary time during the first few days of the coup and the resulting instability until Sonogo backed down and started to honor his commitment to an interim government. I was able to reverse the order of my trips to Mali and Ghana. I’m glad I did. Now all appears to be calm here on the street and my friends and associates are confident there will be resolution. Good luck to you as you finish your time here in Bamako.

Hi Bruce! I am so thankful for your website and the analysis you’re able to provide. I have been following Les Sofas du Republique for quite some time since I am interested in the intersection of music and resistance. I wish there was some sort of nascent Pan-African, International Brigade/Popular Front organizing happening. That would short-circuit these fallacious arguments about French “neo-colonialism” and send a message to all authoritarian, imperialist groups like Ansar Dine that there is no freedom for the enemies of freedom. What would someone like de Villepin offer as an alternative to what the French are doing now? There should have been an immediate and global action against Ansar Dine a year ago when they began targeting Sufi communites and their holy sites. It is the same immoral program al-Shabab perpetrated against Ahlu Sunna Waljama, and it will result in the same unconscionable loss of lives all in the name of a shallow ideology that believes the ends justifies the means. I’d be curious as to your thoughts on all of this, and please let us know if you do indeed hear/are aware of an organized, grassroots defense either affiliated with a group like Les Sofas or others.

Wow, thanks to either serendipity or the RPCV network, I came across a link to your blog. It’s incredibly thoughtful and balanced. Thanks for keeping us in the loop–and also for making me homesick for memorable years in Mali. Wishing you all the best.

I love this, very informative. I was born and raised in Cote d’Ivoire, as missionary kid and travelled to Mali yearly on long, exciting and eventful journeys over dusty roads. Have a deep love and appreciation for all things African!